Pitching machines



Jan. 19, 1960 HACHIO SAITO 2,921,574

PITCHING MACHINES Filed March 29, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 19, 1960cl-uo s o 2,921,574

PITCHING MACHINES Filed March 29, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 19, 1960 co s o 2,921,574

PITCHING MACHINES Filed March 29, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig. 4

Jan. 19, 1960 HACHIO sAlTo 2,921,574

P'ITCHING MACHINES Filed March 29, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 2,921,574PITCHING MACHINES Hachio Saito, Kamakura, Japan Application March .29,1957, Serial No. 649,419 '3 Claims. Cl. 124-29) This invention relatesto a machine for pitching a ball to a batter for baseball practice, andcatcher means for grasping and releasing a ball housing member used inthe machine.

If a pitcher hurls balls to many batters successively in baseballpractice, he will tire and also the force at which the balls are hurledwill vary. Accordingly, a number of different types of pitching machineshave been proposed to overcome such problems. Such machines, however,comprise complicated mechanisms and therefore are too expensive to begenerally employed.

The present invention overcomes the above disadvantages in theconventional machine of this kind and 1S concerned with an improvedpitching machine which is relatively simple, low in cost and safe inoperation and which can be used to hurl liners and balls havingdifferent characteristics. I

The present invention also is concerned with an improved catcher meansfor grasping and releasing aball housing member which is safe inoperation.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a pitchmg machinecomprising a discharge unit for discharging a ball and a support unitfor supporting said discharge unit. The discharge unit includes acompression spring member, tensioning means operable by virtue of thetenslle force caused by said compression spring member, control meansfor controlling the tensile force, first rail means, a ball housingmember adapted to slide on said first rail means by means of saidtensioning means, discharge lever means, catcher means adapted to catchsaid ball housing member at an advanced position thereof to move saidball housing member by means of said discharge lever, gear and chainmeans, manual driving means operatively connected to said catcher meansthrough said gear and chain means, and stopper means for locking saidmanual driving means when said catcher means releases said ball housingmember, whereby a ball disposed in said ball housing member positioned.at the discharge position may be discharged by the high speed forwardmovement of said ball housing member caused by the combination ofreleasing said catcher means for said ball housing member by virtue ofoperation of said discharge lever means and the tensioningoperation ofsaid tensioning means for the ball housing member by virtue of arestoration force of said compression spring means.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pitching machine inwhich said catcher means includes a frame, a connecting member, one endof said connecting member connected to said frame rotatably but immobilein its longitudinal direction and the other end thereof being connectedto one end of the chain, a pair of pawls pivotably mounted to saidframe, an element provided in said frame relatively movably to saidframe by virtue of the operation of the discharge lever means, a pair oflinks, each end of each of said links being pivotably connected to theend of said element and the middle of each of said pawls, respectively,the opposite ends of said pawls being adapted to be closed and opened bythe rearward States Patent and forward movements of said elementrelative to said frame so as to grasp and release said ball housingmember, respectively.

- Another object of the invention is to provide a pitching machine inwhich said discharge unit further comprises a second rail means arrangedbelow and substantially parallel to said first rail means, a camarranged below said first rail means and in front of said second railmeans, and a movable rail device consisting of a block having acylindrical chamber and a slot, a compression spring in said cylindricalchamber, and a movable rail member having a bracket and a cylindricalpart, said cylindrical part being adapted to be guided in saidcylindrical chamber and said' rail member being adapted to be guided insaid slot; and in which said catcher means includes a frame having adownward projecting bracket, a connecting member, one end of saidconnecting member being connected to said frame rotatably but unmovablyin its longitudinal direction and the other end thereof being connectedto one end of the chain, a pair of pawls pivotably mounted to saidframe, a hollow element provided in said frame relatively movably tosaid frame and having a closed end, a pair of links, each end of each ofsaid links being pivotably connected to the end of said hollow elementand the middle of each of said pawls, respectively, the opposite ends ofsaid pawls being adapted to be closed and opened by the rearward andforward-movements of said hollow element relative to said frame so as tograsp and release said ball'housing member, respectively, a plungerdisposed slidably in the hollow of said hollow element, a first leverpivotably mounted to said downward projecting bracket, one end of saidfirst'lever operatively connected to' said plunger and the other endthereof being provided with a roller, said one end of said first leveralso being operatively connected to said hollow element through theintermediate of a mechanism for loose motion, a second leverpivotablymounted to said downward projecting bracket, one end of saidsecond lever operatively connected to said hollow element and the otherend thereof being provided with a roller, a compression spring in aspace between the bottom of said hollow and the front end of theplunger, said plunger being movable in opposite directions by meansofboth of said compression spring in the hollow and said discharge levermeans; whereby, first, when said catcher means. is positioned at itsdischarge position and said discharge lever means is operated, saidroller of said first lever pushes rearward said bracket of said movablerail member against said spring in said cylindrical chamber ofsaidmovable rail device by the forward movement of said plunger toestablish a gap between the rear end of second rail means and saidmovable rail member while maintaining said hollow element in its normalposition and then said roller of said second lever passes down throughthe gap by the forward movement of said hollow element caused by thefurther forward movement of said plunger; second, when the operation ofsaid discharge lever means is released, said roller of said first leveris returned to its normal position by means of said spring in saidcylindrical chamber of said movable rail device without moving rearwardsaid hollow element by virtue of said mechanism for loose motion toclose the gap; and, third, when said catcher means is advanced to itsadvanced position by means of the manual driving means and gear andchain means to grasp the ball housing member by the pair of pawls, saidroller of said second lever is raised by means of said cam to cause therearward movement of said hollow element whereby to close the oppositeends of said pawls.

-Another object of the invention is to provide a pitching machine inwhich, when said catcher means are being retracted to the dischargeposition while catching the ball housing member, the roller of saidsecond lever is guided on said second rail means so as not to fallthereby to prevent any spontaneous discharge due to incidental openingof the pawls.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pitching machine inwhich said ball housing member is connected to a wire rope included inthe tensioning means.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pitching machine inwhich said ball housing member is provided with ball pushing-out meansadapted to be moved in accordance with variation in the direction oftensioning said wire rope.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pitching machine inwhich said ball housing member is provided with means for controllingthe ball-grasping force. The means for controlling ball-grasping forcebeing arranged to cooperate with said ball pushing-out means to impartto a ball different force of rotation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pitching machine inwhich said chain for connecting said manual driving means to said ballhousing member is capable of curving only toward one side thereof.

Anotherobject of the invention is to provide a pitching machine in whichthere is provided a signal device adapted to operate in connection withthe operation of said discharge lever means.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pitching machine inwhich the discharge unit is arranged to be rotatable about its axis.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pitching machine inwhich said discharge unit is connected to said support unit forsupporting said discharge unit rotatably about the axis of said supportunit.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pitching machine inwhich said support unit for supporting said discharge unit includesmeans for varying the height of the machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pitching machine inwhich said support unit for supporting said discharge unit includesmeans for varying the level of the machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pitch ing machine inwhich said support unit for supporting said discharge unit includesmeans for varying both the height and level of the machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide catcher means forgrasping and releasing a ball housing member which comprises a frame, aconnecting member, one end of said connecting member being connected tosaid frame rotatably but unmovably in its longitudinal direction, a pairof pawls pivotably mounted to said frame, an element provided in saidframe relatively movably to said frame, a pair of links, each end ofeach of'said links being pivotably connected to the end of said elementand the middle of each of said pawls, respectively, whereby the oppositeends of said pawls may be closed and opened by the rearward and forwardmovements 'of said element relative to said frame so as to grasp andrelease said ball housing member, respectively.

A further object of the invention is to provide catcher means forgrasping and releasing a ball housing member which comprises a frame, aconnecting member, one end of said connecting member being connected tosaid frame rotatably but unmovably in its longitudinal direction, a pairof pawls pivotably mounted to said frame, a hollow element provided insaid frame relatively movably to said frame and having a closed end, apair of links, each end of each of said links being pivotably connectedto the end of said hollow element and the middle of each of said pawls,respectively, the opposite ends of said pawls being adapted to be closedand openedby .the rearward and forward movements of said 'hollow elementrelative to said frame so as to grasp and release said ball housingmember, respectively, a plunger disposed slidably in the hollow of saidhollow element, .a' first lever pivotably mounted to said downwardprojecting bracket, one end of said first lever operatively connected tosaid plunger and the other end thereof being provided with a roller,said one end of said first lever also being operatively connected tosaid hollow element through the intermediate of a mechanism for loosemotion, a second lever pivotably mounted to said downward projectingbracket, one end of said second lever operatively connected to saidhollow element and the other end thereof being provided with a roller, acompression spring in a space between the bottom of said hollow and thefront end of the plunger, said plunger being movable in oppositedirections by means of both of said compression spring in the hollow andsaid discharge lever means.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the followingdescription and the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a pitching machine according to thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a channel member,illustrating first, second and movable rail means and a cam;

Fig, 3 is a perspective view of a catcher for grasping and releasing aball housing;

Fig. 4 is a side view of a frame of the catcher shown in the directionof arrow A in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the first lever of the catcher;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the second lever of the catcher;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of a chain to be connected tothe catcher;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the ball housing;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a tensioning device for causing the ballhousing to slide;

Figs. 10 to 13, inclusive, are diagrammatical side views of theessential parts of the machine for explaining the operations effected insuccessive stages between preparation and completion of discharging aball;

Figs. 14 to 16, inclusive, are side views of the catcher, partially insection, illustrating a series of the operations effected on discharginga ball;

Fig. 17 is a schematic elevation view showing the operation of thesignal device; and

Fig. 18 is a schematic side view of the ball housing for explaining howa ball can be pitched with rotational forces imparted thereto.

One embodiment of the present invention will now be described inconjunction with the accompanying drawmgs.

Fig. 1 shows a pitching machine according to the invention whichconsists of a discharge unit 1 for discharging a ball and a support unit2 for positioning and supporting the discharge unit 1 at any site withany azimuth, altitude and level determined as desired.

Thedischarge unit 1 is constructed as follows:

A bed Shaving an I cross-section is provided at both ends with bearings4 and 5. The bearing 4 is annular, and both bearings are supported insuch a manner that they can rotate a channel member 6 carrying variousparts aboutthe longitudinal axis thereof. The bearing 5 is provided ateach side with a clamping lever 7 for fixing the channel member 6 inposition. At the rear end of the channel member 6 is secured an endblock 9 having grip 8 for rotating the channel member, and an opening 10extending through the end block 9 communicates with a central bore (notshown) in the bearing 5. As shown in Figs. land 2, a pair of first rails11, 11' are oppositely secured on the upper edges of both inner surfacesof the channel member 6. Each of the first rails is provided on the sidewith a groove 12 in which respective wheels 15 and 16 of a ball housingor carriage 13 and its catcher 14 (see Figs. 3 and 8) are disposed forsliding and rolling. Accordingly, the ball housing 13 and the catcher 14canbe slidably disposed in the channel member 6.

A tensioning device 17 as shown in Fig. 9 is accommodated within thechannel member 6 and is connected to the ball housing 13 as shown inFig. 1, approximately a part of a controllable pulley 18 forming a partof this device 17 and a handle 19 for controlling the pulley 18 projectbeyond one side surface of the channel member 6. A spring casing 20 isprovided on said one side surface of the channel member 6. As shown inFig. 9, the pulley 18 is mounted on a shaft 21 through the lower portionof which a screw rod 23 threads. The rod 23 can be rotated by thecontrol handle 19 through a bevel gear device 22. This arrangement makesit possible to move the controllable pulley 18 within a slot 24 (Fig. 1)disposed on the side of the channel member 6 to vary a tensile force ofa spring 25 by the medium of a Wire rope 26 and to control a speed atwhich the ball housing 13 is moved. A pulley 27 is supported by abracket 28 secured to the upper side of the bottom of the channel member6, and between the pulley 27 and a movable pulley 29 is stretched a wirerope 30 which has one end connected to the bracket 28 and the other endconnected to the ball housing 13. Also, one end of the wire rope 26 isconnected to the movable pulley 29 and the other end is connectedthrough the controllable pulley 18 to an end plate 31 which is pressedagainst an end of a spring 25 disposed in the casing 20.

As shown in Fig. 8, the ball housing 13 is composed of a frame 34 havinga pair of shafts 32 and 33, each comprising wheels 15, 15 at its ends,two pairs of ball-grasping fingers 35, 35 and 36, 36, each projectingforward, and a ball ejection device 37 of bell crank type.

One pair of the upper arms 35, 35 are associated with a bolt 38 the endportions of which are threaded in opposite directions. As the bolt 38 isrotated by rotating a knob 39 mounted on the bolt, the distance betweenboth fingers 35, 35 can be changed to control the ball-grasping force.On the extremities of one pair of the lower arms 36, 36 is secured across-piece 40 for holding the distance between these fingers constant.

The rear shaft 33 has an engaging piece 42 mounted on the shaft in themiddle portion thereof so as to project rearward and having a sharp end41 while the front shaft 32 carries the ball ejection device 37rotatably. The piece 42 is provided on each side with a recess or hole43 in order to allow the catcher 14 to readily grasp the piece. The ballejection device 37 comprises a hollow cylindrical shaft 44, a bracket 45integral with the shaft for connecting the wire rope 30 thereto, and apair of ball push-out arms of circular arc shape 46, 46. The surface ofeach of the arms 46 to be brought in contact with a ball is formed, forexample, in a saw-toothed shape so as to increase friction between thearm surface and the ball.

As shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 14 to 16, inclusive, the catcher 14 comprisesa frame 47 consisting of a main body 48 and upper and lower elements 49,49', two pairs of Wheels 16, 16 for supporting the frame slidably on thefirst rail 11, 11, and a grasping and releasing device 5t) arranged tothe frame 47.

The grasping and releasing device 56 consists of two portions, that is,front and rear portions. The front por tion includes a pair of pawls 51,51, first and second levers 52, 53 forming a safety device and theirassociated mechanism.

The rear portion of the grasping and releasing device comprises aconnecting member 54 having an upward projecting member 55 and hollowportion 56. The rear end of the connecting member 54 has a longitudinalbore (not shown) for receiving one end of a chain 86, which is connectedto the connecting member 54 by means of, for example, a pin (not shown).The front end 57 of the connecting member 54 is of hollowed cylindricalshape and is provided with flanges 58, 58 at both ends thereof. Thecylindrical front end 57 is rotatably received in a bore 59 which isformed by securing an element 6!) having a semi-cylindrical recess tothe main body 48 of the frame 47 having a semi-cylindrical recess bymeans of screws. The longitudinal movement of the connecting member 54relative to the frame 47 is prevented by the flange 58, 58.

The rear portion of the grasping and releasing device 50 furthercomprises an arm 61 rotatably mounted to the upward projecting member 55by means of a pivot 62 and a plunger 63 having a traversely hollowedhead 64. The hollow of the head 64 receives one end of the arm 61.

The associated mechanism of the front portion of the grasping andreleasing device 56 includes a hollow element 65 for slidably receivingthe front portion of the plunger 63. The front end of the hollow element65 is closed and a compression spring 66 is stored in the space betweenthe bottom of the hollow of the element 65 and the front end of theplunger 63. The hollow element 65 has an enlarged portion 67 and aprojection 68 is provided on each side of the enlarged portion 67 at thediametrically opposite positions. The hollow element 65 also has twolongitudinal slots 69, 69, which are provided in the upper and lowerwalls of the element at the diametrically opposite positions. A ring 76is slidably mounted around the hollow element 65 and a pin '71 securedto the ring passes through the slots 69, 69 and the hollow of theelement 65 at a position between the compression spring 66 and theplunger 63. A projection 72 is provided on each side of the ring 76 atthe diametrically opposite positions. The rear end of each of the pawls51, 51 is pivotably mounted to the frame 47 by means of pivot 73.

Each of a pair of links 74, 74 pivotably connects the front end of thehollow element 65 and the middle of each of the pawls 51, 51, so as tomake the opposite front ends of the pawls close and open by rearward andforward movements of the hollow element 65.

The lower element 49 of the frame 47 has a downward projecting bracket75. The first lever 52 of bell crank type is pivotably mounted to thebracket 75 by means of a pivot '76. One end of the first lever is offorked shape which is operatively connected to the projections 72, 72 ofthe ring 78 and the other end thereof is provided with a roller 77. Thesecond lever 53 of hell crank type is pivotably mounted to the bracket75 by means of a pivot 78. One end of the second lever is of forkedshape which is operatively connected to the projections 68, 68 of theenlarged portion 67 of the hollow element 65 and the other end thereofis provided with a roller 79.

The adjacent elements of the chain 80 have projecting, abutting surface81, 82, respectively, as shown in Fig. 7 so that the chain may be curvedonly in one traverse direction opposite to that provided with saidabutting surfaces and accordingly may be pushed along a straight line byusing suitable means.

Referring back to Fig. 2 a second rail 83 is mounted to one of the innersurfaces of the sides of the channel member 6 below the first rail 11.The second rail 83 is shorter than the first rail 11 and has across-section of L shape. While the roller 77 of the first lever 52 isarranged to roll only on the lower side of the rail 83, the roller 79 ofthe second lever 53 is capable of rolling on both upper and lower sidesof the rail. A cam 84 is rigidly secured to one of the inner surfaces ofthe sides of the channel member 6 in front of the second rail 83. Thecam 84 is adapted to guide the second roller 79 from the lower level tothe upper. Behind the second rail 83 is provided a movable rail device85 which comprises a block 86 secured to one side of the bed 3 andhaving a cylindrical chamber 87 and a slot 88, a compression spring 89in the chamber 87 and a movable rail member 99 having a rail part 91, acylindrical part 92 adapted to be reciprocally moved in the chamber 87and a bracket 93. The rail part 91, cylindrical part 92 and bracket 93are formed integrally. As shown in Figs. 2 and 14, the rail part 91normally protrudes to a position adjacent the rear end of the secondrail 83 by action of the spring 89. With the first roller 77 pushing thebracket 83 rearward, the rail part 91 is moved towards the chamber 87 tobe removed from the second rail 83 (see Fig. 16).

As shown in Fig. 1, a discharge lever 94 is rotatably mounted on an axle95 secured to the brackets 96 of the bearing 5. The lever 94 has a lowerend capable of pressing a discharge bar 97 (see Fig. 14). This barextends through the opening (not shown) in the bearing and through theopening in the end block 9 of the channel member 6 and normally held ata rearward position thereof by means of a spring 98.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 17, a pulley 99 is secured to the axle 95 of thedischarge lever 94 at its end. On the back side of the channel member 6in Fig. 1, there are provided two guide pulleys 190, 1.01 below thepulley 99. On the back side, there is provided a discharge indicator102, pivotably about a pivot 103, near the bearing 4. The dischargeindicator is connected to a rotatable shaft 104 by means of links 195,106. The shaft 104 is provided with a small gear 197 adapted to berotated in accordance with the rotation of the shaft 104. Below theshaft 104 is provided another rotatable shaft 108 to which a smallpulley 169 and a large gear 11!) are secured. A wire rope 111 isarranged to operatively connect the pulley 99 and the small pulley 109and also a chain 112 is arranged to operatively connect the large andsmall gears 110, 197. Therefore, when the discharge lever 94 is rotatedrearward (counterclockwise in Fig. 17), the pulley 99 rotatescounterclockwise, which causes the clockwise rotation of the smallpulley 199, which in turn causes the clockwise rotation of the smallgear 197 so that the discharge indicator 162 rotates clockwise orforward. When the discharge lever 94 is returned to its originalposition, the discharge indicator 192 returns to its original verticalposition.

The chain 39 having one end secured to the catcher 14 passes through aguide gear 114 positioned in a chain casing 113 mounted at the rear partof the bearing 5 and after meshing a gear 115, extends forward inanother chain casing (not shown) disposed on the lower side of the bed3. The casing 113 is provided with a stop 116 engaging the guide gear114 to prevent the same from rotation or to prevent the chain frommoving. The stop 116 can be actuated by means of a lever 117 projectingbeyond the side of the casing 113. The gear 115 is connected through ashaft 118 to a pair of handles or wheels 119, each disposed on eitherside of 'the machine. The catcher 14 can be moved by manually rotatingthe wheels 119. if desired, the discharge unit 1 may be provided with acover 120.

Reference will be now made in conjunction with the support unit 2 forpositioning and supporting the discharge unit 1 described above.

The support unit 2 comprises a stand 121 and a tripod 122. The stand 121comprises a base 123, a pair of upright members 124 rigidly secured tothe base 123 at opposite positions and a vertical shaft 125 extendingdownward from the lower side of the base 123. The bed 3 is secured tothe stand 121 at the top of the upright members 124 by means of the bolt126. The lower side of the bed 3 is provided with a quadrant sector 127having a circular arc-like opening 128. A threaded bolt 129 is providedthrough the opening 123 and a bore 130 in one of the upright members 124and a lever 131 is screwed on the threaded end of the bolt 129 so thatthe bed 3 or the discharge unit 1 may be held at any desired angle tothe horizon or at any altitude by holding the upright member 124 and thequadrant sector 127 together by rotating the lever 131 about the bolt129. The top portion 132 of the tripod 122 includes a slotted collar 133secured thereon and a vertical hollow for receiving the vertical shaft125 of the stand 121. The vertical shaft 125 is provided with a verticalrack (not shown) adapted to be engaged with a pinion (not shown) securedto an end of a shaft 134 rotatably mounted to the base 123, the otherend of the shaft 134 having a wheel 135, whereby the level of themachine may be controlled by rotating the wheel 135. The collar 133 isprovided with a pair of radial projections (not shown) at opposite slotsand through which projections a threaded rod (not shown) secured to alever 136 at its end passes, whereby the discharge unit 1 may be set atany azimuth by tightening the slitted collar 133 and the vertical shaft125 by rotating the lever 136 in a suitable direction.

The front leg 137 of the tripod 122 is provided with a roller 138 and astabilizing pin 139. This pin can be moved vertically by means of athreaded device with a handle 149. When this pin is pushed in theground, the tripod 122 is prevented from being moved even on discharginga ball. A pair of rear legs 141, 141 are provided with respectiverollers 142 rotatably mounted thereon. Coupled with the roller 138 ofthe front leg 137, the rollers 141 facilitate movement of the pitchingmachine. In order to stabilize the tripod 122 on discharging a ball,each of the rear legs 141 comprises a stabilizing plate 143 adapted tobe turned below the roller 142 about a pivot 144 by operation of a lever145.

The operation of the machine referred above is now to be described.

When the machine is not brought in a ready condition, the essentialparts are in a condition shown schematically in Fig. 10. In order toreadily understand the operation, the controllable pulley 18 which ispositioned horizontally is shown as being vertically positioned in Figs.10 to 14, inclusive.

In the condition shown in Fig. 10, the compression spring 25 stretchesfrom end to end of the spring cas ing 20 within the same so that thewire rope 26 draws the movable pulley 29 toward the right-handed side inthe drawing, that is rearward in the machine. For this reason, the wire.rope 30 also draws the ball housing 13 up to the position most adjacentto the pulley 27. The catcher 14 is at a rearward position and theroller 79 is below the movable rail part 91. Therefore, the hollowelement is held at the advanced position relative to the connectingmember 54. In other words, the pawls 51, 51 are held in an openedcondition. In this case, however, the movable rail part 91 is at theadvanced position thereof to be adjacent to the second rail 83. This isdifierent from the case shown in Fig. 16.

When the handles 119 of the manual driving means are now rotatedcounterclockwise, the gear 115 is rotated to deliver the chain 81)upwards. As described previously, the chain is arranged to curve onlytoward one side thereof. Accordingly, that portion of the chain in thechannel member 6 is in the stretched condition by virtue of its ownweight and pushes out the catcher 14 forward without the chain beingbent. As the catcher 14 is advanced, the second roller 79 engages withthe cam 84 and is guided on the same to rotate the second lever 53clockwise. Accordingly, the second lever 53 retreats the hollow element65 by means of the projections 68. At this instant, the catcher 14reaches the engaging piece 42 of the ball housing and closes the openedends of the pawls 51, 51 which, in turn, grasp the ball housing 13. Thiscondition is shown in Fig. 11.

If the handles 119 are now rotated clockwise, the second roller 79 whichhas been above the second rail 83 slides rearward on the upper side ofthe same in that condition. Therefore, the catcher 14 is returned to thedischarge position. During this return operation the catcher holds on tothe ball housing. On arriving at the rearward position, the operation ofthe lever 117 suppresses the guide gear 114 by the medium of the stop116 and prevents the catcher 14 from moving forward. Fig. 12 shows thiscondition in which the spring 25 is compressed to the maximum extent andthe pulley 29 is at the most advanced position thereof. During and afterthe movement of the catcher 14, the second and movable rails 83 and 91prevent the second roller 79' from falling and thereby the second lever53 can not be rotated counterclockwise about the pivot 78. Therefore,any spontaneous discharge can be perfectly prevented. It is noted thatthe ball push-out arms 46 are in a condition difierent from those shownin Figs. and 11. In other words, the arms 46 are pushed forward in thecondition shown in Figs. 10 and 11, while it falls to the back in thecondition shown in Fig. 12. This depends upon the direction oftensioning the wire rope 30. When the condition shown in Fig. 12 isobtained, a ball B is inserted in the housing and is grasped by the fourarms 35 and 36. A pressure under which the arms 35 and 36 grasp the ballB can be controlled by operation of the bolt 38 having threaded endportions as shown in Fig. 8. This control in cooperation with thepushout arms 46 can impart to the ball B various forces of rotation asdescribed hereinafter.

If the discharge lever 94 is moved backwards, the discharge bar 97 isadvanced and the front end of the bar 97 first pushes the arm 61 of thecatcher 14 in the lefthanded direction Figs. 14 and 15 to advance theplunger 63 against the spring 66. Accordingly, the pins 71 and ring 70are advanced along the slots 69, 69, maintaining the hollow element 65still immobile thereby to slightly rotate the first lever 52counterclockwise about the projection 72. The first roller 77 mounted tothe lower end of this lever 52 causes the bracket 93 of the movable rail91 to be moved against the force of the spring 89 (Fig. 2) to establisha gap C between the second and movable rails 83 and 91 through which gapthe second roller 79 can be passed.

The discharge bar 97 continues its advance until the head 64 of theplunger 63 pushes the rear end of the hollow element 65. Then, theelement 65 is advanced and the pawls 51, 51 are opened, releasing theball housing 13. At this moment, the second lever 53 is rotatedcounterclockwise by the medium of the projections 68 disposed on theenlarged portion 68 of the element 65, and the second roller 79 ispassed through the gap C just established between the rails. Thus, theroller 79 is brought in a position below the rails. The released ballhousing 13 is subjected to the restoration force of the spring 25through the wire ropes 26 and 30 and strongly drawn at high speed. Inthis case, the ball housing 13 may be drawn at a speed having twice therestoration speed of the spring 25. Since the wire rope 30 is varied inthe tensile direction as the ball housing 13 approaches the pulley 27,the ball push-out arms 46 are rotated counterclockwise to push out theball B. In this case, the force of rotation to be imparted to the ball Bdepends upon the force under which the arms 35 grasp the ball. In otherwords, the stronger the grasp 10 part 91 is advanced until it is broughtin contact with the second rail 83. At this moment, the second roller 79is below the movable rail 91 and therefore the pawls 51, 51 are held inthe opened condition.

Pitching may be successively practised by repeating the series ofoperations described above.

of the ball is, the stronger the force of rotation is. This is apparentfrom Fig. 18. In addition, the ball housing 13 is advanced beyond thepulley 27 by virtue of its inertia (see Fig. 13). Thus, the push-outarms 46 completely push out the ball B from the arms 35 and 36, and theball flies to a batter. The arms 46 cause an eifect whereby the ball Bhas imparted thereto a rotational and is simultaneously accelerated.

When the ball housing 13 spends its inertia, the ball housing 13 isslightly retreated by means of the restoration force of the spring 25and brought in the position shown in Fig. 10. When the discharge lever94 is relieved of the applied force, the discharge bar 97 can returnback to the original position shown in Fig. 14 by means of the spring98. Accordingly, the pins 71, the ring 70 and the plunger 63 areretracted from the position shown in Fig. 16 by means of the spring 66in the hollow element 65. Therefore, the first lever 52 is rotatedclockwise to release the applied pressure from the bracket 93.Accordingly, the movable rail A curve can be efiected by imparting to aball rotation. In order to vary the directions of this curve, thechannel member 6 can be rotated in the bearings 4, 5 by using the grips8, 8. In this case, the rear portion of the catcher 14 connected to thechain unrotatably is not rotated while the frame 47 and the frontportion of the catcher is rotated together with the channel member 6.

It is understood that the invention is not limited to the embodimentthereof described hereinbefore and that many modifications andvariations can be carried out without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention.

What I claim:

1. A ball pitching machine comprising, a longitudinally extendingsupport track, a ball-receiving carriage slidably movable on the trackfrom a first forward position to a second rearward positioncorresponding to a readiness position axially spaced from said firstposition, means in said carriage operable to a position forautomatically ejecting a ball from said carriage when the carriage movesfrom the rearward position to a preselected forward position differentfrom the first mentioned forward position, a compressible energy-storingelement operably connected to the ball-ejecting means for moving theball-receiving carriage from the rearward position to the preselectedposition at a preselected velocity and for causing the ball-ejectingmeans to eject the ball from the carriage at a pre-selected velocity,rotationally operated manual means including means for moving theball-receiving carriage from the forward position to the rearwardposition simultaneously compressing the energystorage element, settingthe ball-ejecting means in a condition for ejecting the ball from thecarriage and selecting said preselected position in dependence upon thecompression of said energy-storage element in a single preparatoryoperation, means cooperative with said manual means for automaticallyreleasably grasping the ballreceiving carriage while in the firstmentioned forward position and moving it to said rearward position whensaid manual means is operated, and means for releasing at will theball-receiving carriage from the grasping means thereby allowing thecompressed energy-storage element to extend and move the carriageforward and cause the throwing of the ball at said preselected forwardposition.

2. A ball pitching machine accordingto claim 1, in which said carriagecomprises four forwardly directed fingers for releasably receiving andgripping a ball, and means to move two of the fingers in a directiontoward each other to adjust the force with which said fingers grip aball.

3. A ball pitching machine according to claim 1, in which said pitchingmachine is provided with a mount having means for angularly rotatingsaid track on its longitudinal axis and positioning in selected angularpositions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,092,361 Shirn Sept. 7, 1937 2,267,162 Moser Dec. 23, 1941 2,267,163Moser Dec. 23, 1941 2,646,785 Goldman July 28, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS665,518 Great Britain Jan. 23, 1952

